Japanese Internment Memorial

     Our recent field trip to the Japanese Internment Memorial made me realize, yet again, how important it is to open your eyes and notice things. I live a block away from Ruth Asawa's mural and I had never stopped to look at it because this government building reminded me of the long hours I waited in line there to get my social security number after coming to the US three years ago. And I am very glad that I get to write about this important representation of history now.  

     The first vignette that grabbed my attention was the depiction of six Japanese soldiers, bending over a fire, heating food in what appears to be one of their steel helmets. This is a very good way of showing the immense sacrifice of the Japanese Americans whose families were stationed in internment camps and they still fought for the US in World War II. The Japanese Internment began as a result of the hysteria following the outbreak of the war with the events at Pearl Harbor. The US government feared that Japanese Americans would commit acts of sabotage, and although no such act was ever committed by a Japanese American, some 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry living in the Western United States were removed from their homes and sent to internment camps. Of these, almost 80,000 were United States citizens and 40,000 were children. Most of the Japanese Americans who volunteered in the war came from Hawaii, but roughly a third came from the mainland camps. They suffered through battles and food shortage, their bread and meat rations were cut almost every month. 

      The second vignette is right behind the soldiers by the fire and it seems to be an endless graveyard. According to some sources, around 200 people died in the internment camps and more than 800 Japanese Americans died in combat. That part of the monument resembles a military graveyard with rows upon rows of perfectly aligned crosses which have no name, and thus the fallen soldiers become statistics to anyone but their families. Some of the casualties were from the Bay Area. Japantown had already formed in San Jose before the war began. Nearly 3,000 Japanese Americans were sent to Heart Mountain in Wyoming. According to the Mercury News, prior to going to the camps, most of the Japantown residents were held in the San Jose State gym.  

     The third part of the memorial that caught my attention was on the side of it with representations of a bamboo stalk, cherry or plum blossom and a pine branch with a cone. In Japan, bamboo forests symbolize sacred barriers against evil and that is why they surround many of their shrines. A cherry blossom is the symbol for spiritual beauty. Another possible interpretation of Asawa's work could be that she tried to represent the Japanese tradition "kadomatsu" where a pine branch symbolizes longevity, a bamboo stalk is used for prosperity and a plum blossom shows nobility. Ruth Asawa herself was interned with her family at a camp in New Mexico where she spent most of her time drawing and painting. 

     I can see how for most Americans, it is very hard to imagine that something like the Japanese Internment could happen again. However, history does repeat itself in one way or another. To me, having gone through ridiculous procedures with the US Immigration Services and having seen how they treat the "aliens" (as they refer to people from foreign countries), I think it would not be unlikely for something like this to happen again. Even after the war, many Japanese Americas still dealt with racism and discrimination. Another example would be what happened after the horrible attack on 9/11 when many Arab Americans were threatened and harassed by government officials. There seems to be a very thin line between people's highest ideals and their worst impulses at times of danger.